Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil () is a former
commune in the
Calvados
Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears.
History In France
Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Nor ...
department in the
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
in northwestern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune
Le Castelet.
Population
Personalities
This village is known as the site of the death of the famous German tank commander
Michael Wittmann
Michael Wittmann (22 April 19148 August 1944) was a German Waffen-SS tank commander during the Second World War. He is known for his ambush of elements of the British 7th Armored Division during the Battle of Villers-Bocage on 13 June 1944. Whi ...
on 8 August 1944, when his Tiger tank (number 007) was destroyed during an ambush. The crew of the destroyed tank was buried in an unmarked grave. In 1983, the
German War Graves Commission
The German War Graves Commission ( in German) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa. Its objectives are acquisition, maintenance and care of German war graves; tending to next of kin; youth ...
located the burial site. Wittmann and his crew were reinterred together at the
La Cambe German war cemetery, plot 47—row 3—grave 120, in France (about 70 km west).
See also
*
Communes of the Calvados department
The following is a list of the 528 communes of the Calvados department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administra ...
References
Former communes of Calvados (department)
Calvados communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia
{{Calvados-geo-stub